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City states its case with £72bn trade surplus

Financial services were the biggest contributor to mitigating Britain’s trade deficit of nearly £40 billion last yearChris Harris for The Times

The City’s financial surplus has hit a record high of more than £60 billion, highlighting the importance of the industry as Britain embarks on Brexit talks that could determine whether London remains one of the world’s global financial centres.

Financial services were again the biggest contributor to mitigating Britain’s trade deficit of nearly £40 billion last year, with the surplus recorded by the sector increasing by £185 million year-on-year to £63.4 billion in 2015, according to a report by The City UK.

It says that the surplus has never been higher and that it equalled those of the United States, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Singapore combined. When other related professional services such as accountancy and law were added, the total surplus rose to nearly £72 billion,…

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